The Song Dynasty was the real beginning of the independence of the University.
It is recorded in the General Catalogue of the Four Libraries: "Since the Tang Dynasty, the university has not written its own article. Zhu Yizun pointed out in the "Jingyi Examination": "The origin of the university can be traced back to Dade's explanation, but the real specialization in research began with Wen Gong. He believes that Sima Guang was the first person to conduct an in-depth and independent study of the University. Strictly speaking, we believe that the establishment of the independent pace of the "University" is closely related to the formation of academic thought in the Song Dynasty. Such a statement is more reasonable. The overall historical background of the Song Dynasty, the living conditions of Confucian scholars, the academic environment, the economic level, and the academic atmosphere all provided the basis for the collation, selection, and reconstruction of the University.
In affirming the social atmosphere, cultural atmosphere, academic environment, and status of intellectuals in the Song Dynasty, we unanimously agree that the Song Dynasty opened a precedent for cultural freedom. The Song Dynasty made significant progress in China's feudal society. We have to admit that this is not only due to the policy support of the rulers of the Song Dynasty and the internal trend of social development, but also inseparable from the rise of the commercial economy in the Song Dynasty, the freedom of cultural atmosphere, the advocacy of social etiquette and the encouragement of talent policy. In a broad cultural context, the Song Dynasty witnessed a comprehensive movement of change, with a degree of innovation in agricultural production and technological civilization that surpassed even that of the Han and Tang dynastiesThe advent of private ownership and the commodity economy pushed the Song economy beyond geographical confinesThe development of papermaking and movable type printing has broadened the scope of cultural dissemination and increased the speed of cultural disseminationThe rise of private academies has promoted the popularization and popularization of educationThe policy of "promoting culture and education and suppressing military affairs" has laid the prerequisites for cultural prosperity and ideological emancipation, and has further strengthened the study style of respecting teachers and respecting the way and the intellectuals' conscious maintenance of ethical norms and social order.
The characteristics of culture are mainly reflected in the achievement of ideas and academic norms.
The development and construction of academic thought in the Song Dynasty should reach maturity with the completion of the classical transformation. First, at the textual level, there are changes from the Pentateuch to the Four Books;Secondly, in terms of interpretation, there is a change from the traditional sentence-reading academic style to the interpretation mode with physical and mental comprehension as the coreFurthermore, in terms of academic thought, the evolution from classics to science;Finally, in terms of target service, the function of social governance and the maintenance of ethical order should be shifted to the transformation of individual mental balance and the achievements of sages.
As a mature theoretical model of thought in the Song Dynasty, the rise, formation and change of "Lixue" were intrinsically consistent with the open and free cultural atmosphere of the Song Dynasty.
The Song Dynasty took cultural freedom as the main theme and emphasized the idea of emphasizing literature over military force, which provided a historical opportunity for the birth of science to a certain extent. Although Confucianism has gone through ups and downs in the history of Chinese thought, its status and influence have not been fundamentally shaken, especially in special periods such as dynastic changes and heterogeneous cultural shocks. Even in the Xinhai Revolution, the New Culture Movement, and the "Rectification of the National History" movement after the founding of the People's Republic of China, Confucianism also experienced a certain degree of subversion and destruction, but its inner bloodline was not completely interrupted, otherwise it would not usher in cultural self-confidence and cultural revival. It needs to be acknowledged that Confucianism needs to be transformed and reshaped to adapt to the special historical mission of the new era, but this does not mean that it is completely abandoned and denied, but that it is looking for a way out in creative transformation and innovative development.
From the "Transformation of Thought - Research on the Occurrence Process of Physics", we can understand: "The reason why Confucianism can become a ruling doctrine is because it has formed an indissoluble bond with the agricultural economy, patriarchal system and unified politics in ancient China, and it conforms to China's land ownership system at that time, adapts to the first-class centralized system, and adapts to the social and ethical relations based on the patriarchal system."
We can conclude that the internal motivation for the long-term prosperity of Confucianism stems from its effective response to social governance and the special political demands of Chinese feudal society. From another point of view, cultural unity is essentially a disguised statement of culture. Historically, "Confucianism alone" and "three martial arts and one sect to destroy Buddha" have significant political significance, and culture has become a political vassal to a certain extent. The unification of culture and the maintenance of cultural subjectivity (nationality) actually limit the vitality of culture itself, the freedom of study style, and the emancipation of the mind. Therefore, the essential characteristics of culture and Confucianism are in harmony with each other to some extent, especially in that era when culture was completely subordinate to politics.
By the Song dynasty, rulers were less concerned with cultural construction and cultural orientation than with the urgent concerns of politics, military, and diplomacy. How to deal with the centralization and unification of military power, avoid the drawbacks of feudal separation, eliminate the drawbacks of decentralization of military power, solve the scourge of selfish interests, and ensure national stability and people's livelihood and well-being became the primary tasks that needed to be solved urgently in the early days of the founding of the Song Dynasty. The relaxed cultural atmosphere at the beginning and the policy of emphasizing cultural priority later enabled the Song Dynasty to open a new era of comprehensive cultural emancipation, which became another grand scene in the ideological circle after the "hundred schools of thought contended".
In such a historical context, it provides a suitable environment for the growth of academic prosperity, and the production of the "Four Books" classics is a typical example. With the change of the basis for the interpretation of the classic texts, the University gradually moved from the marginal position to the core position, and became the focus of the Confucian interpretation in the Song Dynasty. If we ignore the "University" and explain the Confucian thought of the Song Dynasty, or independently interpret the "University" and break away from the Confucian interpretation of the Song Dynasty, we cannot fully explain the true connotation of the "University", nor can we truly understand and feel the ideological realm of Confucianism in the Song Dynasty. The two complement each other and complement each other. Because the theme education, ideological connotation and proposition of the times embodied in the "University" echo the problem consciousness of Confucianism in the Song Dynasty;More importantly, "University", as a programmatic classic, perfectly fits the ultimate ideals and life pursuits of Confucian scholars.
To sum up, the reason why the University came out as an independent state is not only the internal call for the development of the academic itself, but also the result of the University's meeting the needs of the times. In addition, it also reflects the sense of responsibility and self-vigilance shown by Confucianism in the Song Dynasty on the issue of cultural revival and cultural self-confidence, as well as the adherence to and promotion of the subjectivity of Confucianism, Taoism and learning.